Victoria Vetri is a former actress that’s arguably best known to the public
for a small role she performed in the classic 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby. Around the
time of the film’s release, Victoria was also designated Playboy’s Playmate of the Year.
Many thought that big things awaited the burgeoning star, but the Manson Family
murders of 1969 ended up changing her life in a way that also spelled the end of her career.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how Victoria Vetri’s downward spiral ended with her in prison.
Victoria Vetri’s Early Life
Victoria Vetri was born in San Francisco, California, on September 26,
1944. Both of Victoria’s parents had been born and raised in Italy, with her mother hailing from Rome
and her father hailing from Sicily. Upon her coming of age, Victoria studied at Los Angeles
City College, with an emphasis on art. It was around this time that Victoria decided she was
interested in becoming a star, and her first role came via an uncredited part in the 1962 war comedy
The Pigeon That Took Rome. Following this small and uncredited part, Victoria could be seen in
the television series Going My Way, Cheyenne, and Hawaiian Eye. In all of these series, Victoria
was credited under the name of Angela Dorian, which was a stage name that she had come up
with that was inspired by an Italian ocean liner by the name of the SS Andrea Doria. This ship
infamously sunk in 1956, and Victoria’s career would similarly sink after only a few years.
After the aforementioned television roles, Victoria was given another uncredited role
in a film. This role came via the 1963 adventure drama King of the Sun,
and it marked the first time where Victoria was credited by her birth name.
Still, the actress would continue to be credited as Angela Dorian for the most part
over the ensuing years, with 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby being the last work where she was credited
as such. In between Victoria’s appearances in King of the Sun and Rosemary’s Baby, she
appeared on around a dozen notable television shows in guest-starring roles.
Some of the most notable programs that the actress appeared on during this period of time include The
Magical World of Disney, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hogan’s Heroes, and Batman. Still,
it’s Victoria’s role in 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby that has defined her acting career.
Victoria’s role in Rosemary’s Baby wasn’t a huge one, but it still brought the actress
more serious attention amongst her Hollywood peers than ever before.
The same year that Victoria appeared in Rosemary’s Baby, she was deemed Playboy’s
Playmate of the Year. Victoria had first posed for the erotic publication in 1967,
and her appearance in the magazine once again saw her going by the stage name of Angela Dorian.
Angela’s Playboy shoots certainly made her popular amongst certain demographics,
and she would go on to become one of the more popular pin-ups of the Vietnam War. Sadly,
all of this positive attention that Victoria was getting in the late 1960s wasn’t going to last.
Victoria Vetri Was Friends with Sharon Tate Victoria was cast in the film Rosemary’s
Baby in a fairly small role, but it was still a rather important one. Victoria’s
character in the film ends up killing herself early on, but not before sharing a memorable
scene with lead actress Mia Farrow. Controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski directed the film, and it
seems that Roman also took an interest in Victoria behind the scenes. Victoria and Roman seem
to have started socializing at some point around the time of the film’s production.
Victoria also became close with Roman’s wife at the time, who was actress Sharon Tate.
Legend has it that Victoria, Roman, and Sharon would engage in threesomes together
at the latter pair’s California home. This would be the same home that would serve as the location
of some of the infamous Manson Family murders in 1969. As a matter of fact, Victoria was supposed
to be at Roman and Sharon’s house the night that the latter party and her friends were killed
by the Manson Family. Not only that, but Victoria came to blame herself for her friend’s death
at the hands of the cult due to an incident that had occurred previously
when Charles Manson came to visit Sharon Tate’s home while Victoria was also visiting.
A short time before the murders, Charles Manson came to visit the home that Roman Polanski
and wife, Sharon Tate were living in. Charles believed that a notable music producer was
occupying the home, and he was coming to the house to solicit the producer with demo tapes.
It ended up being Sharon that answered the door, and both her and Charles were
taken by surprise upon seeing the other in the doorway. Victoria was hanging out
with Sharon at the time. When Victoria caught a peek of the unexpected guest,
she remarked how strange he looked. Victoria later came to believe that Charles Manson had
heard her derogatory remark, and she blames the incident for the murders.
After Victoria’s Playboy fame, as well as her appearance in the classic horror film Rosemary’s
Baby, it appeared as if the actress had nowhere to go but up in her burgeoning career. However, the
murder of her close friend Sharon Tate at the hands of the aforementioned Manson Family would
alter her life in a way that prevented her from pursuing Hollywood fame. If you’re enjoying this
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Victoria Vetri Only Had One Lead Role in a Film After appearing in 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby,
Victoria Vetri could be seen performing in a handful of guest-starring television roles over
the course of the ensuing 1960s before appearing in a notable role in the 1970 film When Dinosaurs
Ruled the Earth. Following Rosemary’s Baby, Victoria was credited via her birth name in all
of her subsequent roles. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth could’ve proved a big break for Victoria,
as it granted the actress her very first leading role in a feature film. However, by
the point of the film’s release, Victoria was in dire straits mentally.
The notorious Manson Family murders occurred in 1969, not long after the release of Rosemary’s
Baby. When the murders occurred and it was announced that Sharon Tate and her unborn
child had been murdered, Victoria immediately blamed herself on account of the derogatory
remark that she had made about Manson upon their first and only encounter. Not only would
guilt begin to eat away at Victoria, but so would fear. As it turns out, Victoria was supposed to be
there the night that Sharon Tate and her friends were murdered by the Manson Family. Following
the cult’s arrest, Victoria continued to fear retribution from them in some way.
Apparently, the actress was fearful that Charles might use his connections
to arrange for her to be murdered while he was within the confines of his cell.
If Victoria’s career showed a lot of promise at the start of the 1970s, the paranoia
that began to overcome the actress as a result of the Manson Family murders made it so that she was
no longer capable of giving her all to her acting jobs. In fact, some say that Victoria was
essentially house ridden out of fear. The actress had a few notable roles in the 1970s following
her aforementioned lead role in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. One such role came via the
television series Mission: Impossible, in which she appeared in the same year. Though Victoria is
still alive today at the age of 77, her last credited acting role was all the way back in 1975.
Victoria Vetri’s Paranoia Lasted for Decades In the decades following Victoria Vetri’s
retirement from the entertainment industry, not much was heard from the star until around
2010. In 2010, Victoria Vetri came back into the headlines once again, though not for a great
reason. It turns out that Victoria had shot her then-husband in the chest. Not only that, but it
seems that Victoria’s reason for doing so was because she believed that he was Charles Manson.
While Charles Manson had been behind bars for many decades upon Victoria shooting her husband, it
seems that the actress never let go of her fear of the man and his cult.
Victoria Vetri has been married twice over the course of her life, and the husband
who ended up getting shot in the chest by the former actress was second husband Bruce Rathbeg.
The two became married in 1985 and divorced sometime after the 2010 shooting incident.
Bruce is a rock-and-roll musician, though not a very popular one. Though Bruce truly believed that
Victoria had become delusional and thought that he was Charles Manson when she shot him, the pair
had other issues in their decades-long marriage that were not directly related to the Manson
Family’s crimes. For one thing, Victoria thought that Bruce was cheating on her with groupies
during his live performances. For another thing, the actress had grown insecure about her looks.
Bruce Rathbeg thankfully survived the shooting incident, though his and Victoria’s marriage
came to an end as a result of it. Victoria was charged with the crime of attempted voluntary
manslaughter and ended up pleading guilty. She went to prison and wasn’t released until 2019.
Nowadays, it seems that Victoria has let go of some of her fears regarding the Manson Family.
Of course, Charles Manson is no longer with us, and it stands to
reason that none of the surviving former members of the Manson Family would be
interested in seeking out any kind of retribution against the actress.
Victoria Seems to Have Recovered from Her Fear Though Victoria Vetri hasn’t returned to the
screen since her 1975 retirement, she has made some notable appearances at
horror conventions since being released from prison. It seems that the actress
may be ready to get back out in the spotlight, though the 77-year-old former
star’s memory apparently leaves a significant amount to be desired.
Former actress Victoria Vetri was house-ridden for decades out of fear that the Manson Family were
going to seek out retribution for a derogatory remark she made regarding Charles Manson before
the cult’s infamous murders. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that former actress
and Playboy model Victoria Vetri is still around today and that she shot her husband in the chest
in 2010? As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe, and hit the notification bell
if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their
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